Letter: Do the math; I did

The issue over the fiscal cliff is just a math problem: what to do to balance revenues with expenditures.

The Republicans do not want to raise taxes and the Democrats are not interested in cutting expenditures or entitlements.

I think it is highly unlikely that this problem will be solved before the deadline, so an extension is imminent. After the extension, then what? If you actually dig into the budget numbers, as I have, we will never be able to make up the deficit with tax increases unless we tax everyone who pays taxes at 100 percent. Even if that happened, the Democrats would continue to deliver the "candy" to the voters, and the revenue and expense side would never reach equilibrium.

Don't be surprised when a new Value Added Tax (VAT) is started though.

The president will not cut expenditures, because that is the currency he used to win the election.

I think we are into hard times for the next four years. If we survive four more years, the pressure will be great enough to cause sensible action with respect to solving the math problem.